Double pendulum weathervanes

WAX magazine asked us to produce an introduction to the website that will be shown to each visitor, and that should be based on real-time weather conditions as reported by data-gathering buoys off Montauk Point.

In this simulation, four Rott’s Pendulums are each given an initial acceleration with a force and starting rotation that correspond to the current wind speed and direction off Mountauk Point. The pendulums are given very slightly different starting rotations, just as the weather varies slightly from one square meter to the next. A Rott’s Pendulum is an example of a double pendulum, which is a chaotic system. Even though the initial positions of these four pendulums are virtually the same, their movements diverge rapidly over time, making prediction impossible.

We also produced companion posters, and a science-based projection for the band at the magazine’s launch event.